Standard Chartered investigating banker over involvement in far-right group
City bank Standard Chartered is investigating one of its junior employees over his involvement with a far-right anti-immigration group.
Tom Dupre, aged 23, calls himself a “right accelerationist” on Twitter. He leads the UK branch of Generation Identity, a group which aims to “preserve our peoples ethno-cultural identity” and calls for the “humane repatriation of anyone who has entered our countries illegally”.
City A.M. understands that Dupre was reported to his employer by anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate.
“We are currently investigating an allegation made against one of our employees and dealing with this matter accordingly,” said a Standard Chartered spokesperson.
“We strongly believe its our diversity that sets us apart and we possess an inclusive culture where equality is promoted.”
Dupre, who studied psychology at Bristol University, told City A.M. that he considered his "personal views" – which he claims to be "held by large numbers of people and cant be fairly described as 'extreme'" – should be a private matter left separate from his work life.
"I also dont believe there would ever be a complaint by a client about this," he added.
Yet Dupre has been outspoken about his views on senior London figures. He told the Sunday Times, for example, that he did not believe mayor of London Sadiq Khan would qualify as European by his standards.
He said that only “small numbers” of black or Muslim people would be classed as European.
Read more: What Italy means to EU: Should investors be worried about the election?
What is Generation Identity?
The group, which has come relatively recently to the UK but has a larger presence in countries such as France and Austria, uses the Greek letter Lambda as its symbol. Lambda was also used by the ancient Greek military city of Sparta in battle, and adopted by Generation Identity for its connections to "a patriotic army defending its native soil".
The group also claims to condemn racism, but uses the Spanish term "reconquista" – which has connotations to the expulsion of non-Christians when Christian forces took over Muslim-ruled parts of Spain in the 15th century – to describe how it wants the reconquest of Europe.
Generation Identity says it "opposes globalisation", and has in the past sent its volunteers to camps in the Alps to "symbolically" block migrant passages.
Read more: London protests: Far-right groups EDL and Britain First clash with United Against Fascism
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